Location, location, location say realtors, who are equally big on timing.
Location and
timing have always been problems for Ukraine.
My daughter met
Mary, a transfer student from Ukraine while attending Francis Marion University.
They’ve continued to correspond regularly and have gotten together in Ukraine,
this country and other places.
Had either
gone to another school or enrolled in different majors, they might’ve never met
and would have missed out on what looks to be a lifelong friendship. Life
certainly is all about timing and location.
That’s what
I told Mary’s father in my only correspondence with him. When Jessica returned
from her first visit to Ukraine. She delivered a gift from him—a pewter glass
holder. Before sending him a thank-you letter, I researched the significance of
the image portrayed on it.
It seems
that in the 1600’s, Poland was a powerful nation controlling much of Eastern
Europe. Ukrainians resented living under this repressive regime, much the way,
a century later, we would resent being under England’s thumb.
In 1648,
Bogdan Khmelnitsky led the Ukraine Cossacks in a successful revolt against
Poland. His image is the one on the glass holder. He was Ukraine’s George
Washington before there even was a George Washington.
Like us,
Ukrainians had willingly put everything on the line to gain independence. Unlike
the American colonies, their success was short-lived.
It was a
different time and a different place.
The Treaty
of Pereyaslav in 1654 put Ukraine under the protectorate of the bigger,
stronger Tsarist Russia, eliminating the risk of her falling back under
Poland’s control. Unfortunately, Ukraine’s fight for independence merely resulted
in escaping the grasp of one European powerhouse only to fall into the
repressive realm of another. Their alliance with Russia would, in the long run,
prove more destructive than if they had remained with Poland.
Over the
next three hundred years Ukraine’s borders shifted constantly as the big fish
that surrounded her—Russia, Poland, the Ottomans and the Nazis, among others,
tried to gobble her up.
The Crimean
War (1853-1856) is as good an example as any of the hapless fate suffered by
Ukrainians for no greater sin than living where they do. Some say it was fought
for religious reason, others for territorial disputes. France’s Napoleon II
wanted to drive the Ottoman Empire out of Europe, Imperial Russia wanted to
make a move into Europe. The Ottoman’s just wanted to hang around a little
longer and Ukrainians simply wanted everyone to return to their own homes.
In the
period immediately following our victory over England, we experienced many
hardships in forming a new government, but our independence was never
threatened. Again, timing and location made the difference.
We had room
to breathe because our borders weren’t threatened. Something else was different
in 1776 America, something that did not exist in 1648 Ukraine—fresh ideas.
In the hundred
years between Ukraine and America’s Revolutions, something happened. Something
that changed the world. Philosophers like John Locke, Rousseau, and Voltaire
gave the world revolutionary ideas of what the governments resulting from
revolutions should aspire to.
Before these
men, revolutions were about replacing repressive governments with similarly
repressive ones. The American Revolution was about revolutionary ideas like life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness—ideas that did not exist in 1648, and which
forced Ukraine to turn to Russia.
That’s what
I noted to Mary’s father when I thanked him for his gift in the early 2000s. At
the time, the Ukrainian people were again at a crossroads. They had broken from
Russia, but needed a strong alliance to safeguard their new-found freedom.
Fortunately, the protection provided by Europe and the United States did not come with strong-arm demands for control as was the case in 1648, but rather with enlightened ideas for self-governing.
Fortunately, the protection provided by Europe and the United States did not come with strong-arm demands for control as was the case in 1648, but rather with enlightened ideas for self-governing.
Location,
however, remains a problem for Ukraine, and is exasperated by Russia’s desire
to go back in time and again become a force for evil. They’ve retaken Crimea
and set their sights on all of Ukraine. More than ever, Ukraine must rely on
powerful allies to help guarantee her security, but something else has gone
wrong.
Since World
War II, the United States with its unwavering values and democratic ideals has
been both a model and protectorate of all countries, particularly Ukraine and
other nations once part of the Soviet Union.
Earlier this
year, that support was compromised when President Trump attempted to secure Ukraine’s
involvement in our 2020 election for his benefit. His corrupt attempt at
extortion, aided by his supporters both inside and outside the government has
hurt both us and Ukraine. They have also hurt the cause of freedom and
democracy.
Ukraine
could be forgiven for wondering if there will ever come a time and place that
will enable them enjoy true independence, as other free nations do, without a foreign
superpower using strong-arm tactics to threaten their existence.
